Fastener products, such as hook components of hook-and-loop fasteners, are often manufactured by a continuous molding method employing a cylindrical mold roll which has fastener-shaped mold cavities formed in its periphery. Often the mold roll is formed of an axially compressed stack of ring-form mold plates. In operation, molten polymer from an extruder is introduced into a pressure zone in which the molten polymer is forced under high pressure into the fastener cavities of the mold roll, to mold fastener elements, e.g., hooks, or stems from which fastener elements are later formed, integrally with a base layer. In some cases the pressure zone is a nip formed by a mold roll and an adjacent pressure roll. In other configurations the pressure zone is formed between a conforming stationary pressure head and a mold roll.
For some applications, it is desirable that the fastener elements of the product be arranged only in discrete areas, and that the pattern of such areas be of a specific configuration.
Further improvements in methods and machines for making fastener products are desirable. It is desirable, for instance, that improved methods be readily and efficiently adaptable with current manufacturing methods and equipment, thus eliminating or greatly reducing the need for large expenditures in new equipment.